Details are scant, but MIT is venturing more firmly into the world of online continuing education for professionals (including but not limited to their own alumni). They are beginning with a four-course (certificate?) systems engineering program in partnership with Boeing and NASA.

Given the pace of innovation, really, if you got a computer science degree 10 years ago, are you still prepared for the real world?

What if you could start a university from scratch for today’s needs and with today’s technology? MIT Dean Christine Ortiz is hoping to answer this question through a new venture–but unlike other efforts, hers will be not-for-profit.

Ms. Ortiz says she plans to create a nonprofit institution so that “all of the revenue can be reinvested in the enterprise to serve the public.”